ALBANY, NEW YORK -- I am writing this to share my most recent experience with Enterprise. It is this experience that I can honestly say has ensured that neither my wife nor I will ever consider doing business with Enterprise again. Planning for an upcoming business trip I booked a hotel and car rental with Expedia.com, something I have done numerous times in the past without incident. This occasion seemed no different. I was able to book my reservations online, received confirmation e-mails from both Expedia and Enterprise verifying the reservations.

My confirmation from Expedia stated that all I would need to rent the car was a print out of my confirmation, valid driver's license and credit card. Since I do not have a credit card I called my bank to confirm that my VISA debit card would be an acceptable alternative. My bank reiterated to me that the VISA logo on the card meant that it could be used anywhere a VISA credit card was accepted. I received a second confirmation, this one directly from Expedia. Out of habit I browsed through the terms and conditions, noting that a deposit would be required. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

Having rented numerous cars in the past I had no reason to be concerned and thought that everything was in order. However, when I showed up at the Albany Airport at 6:00 am for my scheduled pickup, my wife and I found ourselves in a situation we did not expect. I was greeted by a young man whose attitude made it clear he did not wish to be there. The young man asked me for my information and I promptly supplied him with my confirmation e-mail, driver's license and VISA debit card. No sooner did I hand the items to the young man he handed them back saying that Enterprise does not accept debit cards.

When I stated that it had a VISA logo on it, he reluctantly took the debit card informing me that he would have to run the card for a $250.00 deposit in addition to the rental car fee. Expecting this, I readily consented. However, the customer service representative stood there with an air of expectancy. When I asked if he needed anything else he said that he was going to need additional proof of identity, proof of residence and my most recent paycheck stubs.

Both my wife and I were completely floored. We have rented from every car rental place in the Albany Airport, with this being our first time at Enterprise, and have never been asked to provide the documents requested today. This put us in a very precarious position since I was scheduled to be at my job for departure at 7:00 am. It was already quarter after 6 and I was being asked to provide information that I did not have with me.

Explaining that I did not have time to go home and get all the required paperwork the customer service representative stated that this was their policy and that this confusion was due to my using Expedia to book my reservation, since Expedia and Enterprise do not share the same terms and conditions surrounding their rental policies. After looking in the car for any kind of document that might be acceptable my wife and I returned with several documents, including a previous electric bill - all of which the customer service representative had said was acceptable.

I submitted the new set of paperwork to the young man, to which he promptly said that he could not rent me a vehicle since the bill I provided him showed a past due balance. I explained that it was an old bill and that it was all I had. The representative's response was that we obviously did not have the credit to rent a car and by allowing us to rent a car he could lose his job. After a half hour of trying to rent a car I had a reservation for, along with the required documents, payment and deposit, I was denied. I have never been so humiliated in public and by a complete stranger that I was trying to do business with before.

Due of this exchange I found myself running late to my job, therefore delaying other members of my party I was to travel with. I found myself out of time and without a car, forcing me to take the family vehicle so that I would still be able to attend my out of state business trip. By doing so, I had to leave my wife and our children without a car until Saturday morning. Even more worrisome, our oldest daughter is pregnant and due to have her baby any day. It was for this very reason that I did not wish to leave my family without a car. My wife tried calling Enterprise to discuss the matter.

She was told by a representative that the problem was that we did not read the itinerary, which states that we would have to call the location to see if they took debit cards, at which time they would have informed us about the additional documentation required to rent from their facility. We have both looked at my e-mail confirmation and it says no such thing. When my wife stated this the representative began to argue with her. My wife repeated that neither the company's terms and conditions or policies stated any such thing on the website or in the e-mail. The customer service representative stated that the problem was using Expedia to book the reservation.

I find it interesting that out of the many, many times my wife and I have used Expedia we have never once had a problem until today. I have rented cars from various rental companies over the years and only Enterprise has provided such a blatantly rude, unnecessarily intrusive and humiliating experience.

While Enterprise claims that Expedia is to blame for the 'mix up', it was Enterprise that denied me a car rental because of Enterprise's own policies - policies we were told prevent the company loss. I would hope that the irony of this situation is not lost on Enterprise because it is Enterprise's loss prevention policies have ensured the loss of any and all of our future business.

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Charged For Damage I Did Not Cause

By Laura - 10/07/2012

Rating: 1/51

HOUSTON, TEXAS -- I had the misfortune to have to rent a car from Enterprise last April. I left my car at a local collision repair shop in Houston after someone hit my car from behind. I was taken down the street to an Enterprise Car Rental on the Southwest Freeway. The only car available was a red Nissan Cube. I stood with the agent and inspected the car. It was my first time to ever rent a car since I was only 21 at the time. There was some bodily damage on the passengers' side and I took pictures and asked the agent to document it. Never, in a hundred years did I ever think to check the undercarriage of the car.

I drove the car to college and stayed there for about 3 hours and proceeded to drive across town. I was driving through a neighborhood and slammed on my brakes quickly because I saw a stop sign I had almost missed. When I did, both wheels bent in the wheel well enough to make the car undriveable. My first thought was to call AAA since I had never had a rental car towed, but I ended up calling the agent. The agent told me where to have the car towed. When the AAA tow truck showed up, he said he was unable to tow the car there because it was supposed to be an Enterprise tow. After calling the agent again, he finally gave me a 1-800 number that I called.

I eventually had to speak with 3 different people before Enterprise sent a tow truck out. When the tow truck driver was loading the car on the truck he examined the undercarriage of the vehicle and said that there was no way that slamming on the brakes could have cause the damage. The frame was bent. Chances were that there was already damage and slamming on the brakes rendered the car undriveable. The car was towed and I heard nothing from Enterprise until one day they sent me a bill for $443. I called them to tell them there was no way I could have done that much damage with my brakes.

They really didn't care and told me that the damage had been done while the car was in my possession so I had to pay for all damages. Since I knew the undercarriage of the car had not been inspected when I rented, I knew my arguments would most likely not be taken seriously. I negotiated a payment plan with the Enterprise Recovery Expert. The first month I was unable to pay all the money I had agree to, the recovery specialist called me and yelled at me. He turned my account over to a collections agency, which is where it is now.

Basically, since I cannot prove that I did not cause the damage, my credit is ruined. I am still paying on the balance, but the advice I can give to everyone is to always inspect the undercarriage of the car before renting so something like this does not happen to you.

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Drop-off charges???

By Not happy about this - 06/12/2007

RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA -- I recently rented a car from the Raleigh-Durham International Airport location. My husband and I flew into Raleigh-Durham and rented a vehicle from Enterprise to drive home. We had a lot of business to take care of and were going to be coming home with a lot of belongings so we decided to drive home. I have rented from Enterprise in the past and have always had a positive experience. This time it turned into a nightmare. I made the reservation online and even had a live online chat with a customer service representative. When we got to the Enterprise office in Raleigh, it was so crowded. There were people everywhere.

By the time it was my turn to go up to the counter, it was such a rush and when they asked me if anyone else would be driving the vehicle and I said, "yes, my husband", they only asked me for his driver's license and didn't need to see or talk to him. He was standing outside with all of our luggage. They just took my driver's license, his license and my credit card and the woman who took care of me only asked me if I wanted a Sonata or a Taurus and then told me to come outside and get the car. We were rushed outside, she pulled the car up and handed me the keys.

I asked her if she was going to inspect the vehicle before giving to us and she said "Oh yeah, it's so busy here today, I almost forgot." I also had to ask her to mark how much gas was in the vehicle because it was only ½ full.
The trip was fine but here is the really bad part. We drove back to New York and when I went to return the vehicle to my local Enterprise office, they looked at me like I had five heads. The Customer Service Representative told me that they do not accept cars from other branches. You cannot even imagine this ordeal. I have never had a problem like this with any other company I've rented from and have never heard of such a policy.

The CSR then proceeded to call the Raleigh office and put me on the phone with a CSR there who was very rude to me and said that they do not do "one-way rentals". I never knew about this. When I made the reservation I clicked on 'drop off at another location' and that was it. I never thought about this nor was I ever informed about this policy. Apparently though, if you rent from an Enterprise office, the vehicle must be returned to that office no matter where else you drive to. I was shocked. There was no way I would have ever rented the vehicle from them if I knew this.

They said there was going to be this big drop-off charge and when I told them no one had ever informed me about it, they said I should have known before I rented the vehicle. They then put me on the phone with a manager and he was also very rude to me. I explained that the day of the rental, I was rushed out and when they asked me if I would be driving anywhere else, I said "yes" and they never asked me where or anything. They give you unlimited mileage but you still have to drop the vehicle off at the location you rented it from. I was really both annoyed and shocked and frankly, very very nervous.

Since the manager was rude to me, I asked him very sarcastically, "So, what if I drove to California, would I still need to drive the vehicle back to Raleigh?". He chuckled and said "yes" and then I said, "This is absurd, I can't believe how this company operates" and with this awful rude tone he said to me "Then you should have rented with another company". I couldn't believe what I was hearing and then I got more annoyed and loud and he started saying they were going to charge me $2.00 per mile which would have come out to around $1,100.00 plus the rental, which was only $206.00 to begin with.

I told him I didn't have that kind of money and he started saying he'd have to pull someone from his office to come and pick up the vehicle and when I said, "Can't someone just rent the car from there?", he said they don't share vehicles. I said "How was I supposed to know that?" and he said, "You should have asked". Whoever heard of such a thing? He then said I should read my contract and I told him, "Are you kidding me? I was rushed out of there, I'm lucky I got my full name on the line."

So after this whole back and forth drama and the manager at the Enterprise office I was attempting to drop the vehicle off spoke to this guy in Raleigh, he gets back on the phone with me and tells me that he doesn't normally do this for anyone and can get in big trouble but he'll do me a big favor and ONLY charge me $550 plus the rental. Now I only had $500.00 to go on my credit card, they took a $200.00 hold and the rental was $206.00 so I thought I was covered for the initial rental and told this person that I did not have enough to pay for it and he told me to "Figure it out".

I then got very frustrated and the manager where I was taken the phone from me and was trying to work something out. He took the keys and said he was working it out and was going to check out the vehicle to make sure there were no damages (which there were none) and that I had enough gas (which there was a full tank) and then told me everything was okay and that the Raleigh office would be contacting me to negotiate something. I did not hear anything from them and kept trying to call and left several messages.

When I checked my credit card online, I saw that there was no balance left and when I called the credit card company, they told me that the card was charged by Enterprise for $550.00 and when I told them I did not authorize the charge, they told me that I had to call Enterprise and that there was nothing they could do for me. I kept trying to call Enterprise, left more messages, sent emails and to no avail. Today I looked at my credit card statement online again and there was now a charge for $899.28!!! I cannot figure this out. I am so upset and now I am going to be charged who knows what from my credit card company for going WAY over the limit.

I finally had a chance to calm down and read the back of the contract and there is a part that says they can charge a drop-off fee of $100.00 or $.50 per mile if the car is dropped off at another location, whichever is greater. So to the best of my estimation, at 550 miles charged at $.50 per mile, would come out to $275.00 and even if they add the $206.00 for the original rental that comes out to $681.00. What is the extra $218.28 for? I am so confused and keep calling to get them to send me a bill or an estimate, a breakdown of what they are charging me but I cannot get anyone's assistance.

This was just not a pleasant situation, there's no way we would have rented this vehicle had I known any of this, I would have made other arrangements for sure and I know it is my responsibility to read this contract, but it's a four-page contract, in tiny little writing and it was such a rushed rental. I just don't know what to do and how I am going to pay for this. Can you imagine a person wanting to go through this? Had I known any of it, I never would have bothered. Was I supposed to guess that this was their policy? Do I let them just get away with this? How do I know they won't charge me more money again??? I am really very upset and need some guidance on this one.

I do not feel this was fair treatment and I was treated very rudely. Does anyone out there care about consumers? Are we all just to be made to bow down to these big companies and have to deal with whatever they dish out? Am I just another number? Someone, please help!

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False Damage/Ding Scam if you do not purchase their Insurance!

By Courtney - 11/28/2012

Rating: 1/51

SOUTH BURLINGTON, VERMONT -- NEVER GO to this company, if you - like me - are on a budget and renting a car is a luxury or an immediate need go ANYWHERE but here... They will blame you for damages that don't exist and take all your money. My story starts with that I was renting a car for Thanksgiving to go to my family's house in Connecticut. I discussed with the gentleman on the phone my plans and he told me that Enterprise had a 9.99/day extended rate on compact cars for the weekend. Awesome I thought!!! This is feasible. I arrived on the date I booked and they had no more compact cars, so I was given a 2011 Toyota Corolla which is fine.

The girl ** told me she was new but was very sweet and gave me the same price...I think. Anyhow as we begin to walk around the car, I noticed an abundance of what she called "surface" scratches and told me not to worry about. STUPIDLY I believed her. When I returned the car a gentleman was at the desk and immediately ready with my papers as I pulled in the drive. He busted out to check for damages. Sure enough I see him rubbing one of these "scratches". He comes inside and says "There's a dent. I need to have my manager look at it." At this point I'm in shock.

I drove the highway for 4 hours parked in a spot that the car couldn't be touched for 5 days and drove the highway back. Nothing happened to this car...or could have. The manager goes out there and they bend at all angles and decide they see a dent. They begin to tell me that 80 percent of their customers say they aren't responsible for the damages. I believe they probably weren't. This so-called scratch that is not even visible, if visible to them could not have been seen by me and the new employee **. I still don't see it and I took pictures of this so called spot.

I told them I have no money to replace parts on a 2011 auto body and they held my deposit and claimed I lied about insurance. "No" I said, "I have insurance", and the girl knew nothing about how personal insurance coverage worked and admitted that. I blindly trusted this girl who sat at her desk quietly as I cried and my fiance pointed out their false statements. They held my deposit, and said they will charge my card for the additional damages. I can not begin to explain how horrible this scam is. They mentioned 3 times that I rejected their insurance... If I got in an accident I'd have to figure that out but this car was pristine and untouched.

I think they do this to all customers that don't pay their $18/day insurance. The manager there is ** and he thinks he's high and mighty. He asked me to sign the report about the damage. I declined as I will not put my name on anything stating my responsibility and he told me that didn't matter anyway he didn't need my signature... Then why did you ask?

I am a responsible, professional citizen who was completely taken advantage of. I will continue to fight this legally, but until then do NOT give your money to these people unless you have great coverage...and then they will put claims on your insurance...and jack up your rates. Do not trust them... from now on I'll be using Hertz!

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Fraudulently Claimed Hail Damage to Vehicle.

By Ray - 07/09/2012

Rating: 1/51

ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA -- For years, I have been a good customer of Enterprise Rent-A-Car. I fly into DC every month to see my girls who live in the DC area. This past time, I dealt with a young black man who seemed to have it in for me. He showed me an upgraded car (I have been VIP for years, so I am used to upgrades from Enterprise) and asked me if it was OK. I took a walk around the car and did not notice anything glaring about the condition of the vehicle. It was a Dodge crossover SUV type vehicle with just over 14K miles. I kept the car for the six days, returning it at 4 am, as I had promised.

Since nobody was there (at the Enterprise area of DCA), I left the car and went to catch my flight. Two days later, I received a letter stating the vehicle had suffered "damage to the roof due to hail" and that I was responsible for 2300+ in damages. I called and said that I did not look on the very roof of the vehicle when I checked it out, since it is an SUV and I am a senior citizen and did not feel comfortable climbing up on the wheel well and looking at the top roof. After all, I had never thought to look at the top roof of any SUV I rented in the past.

Enterprise insisted that the car had been damaged whilst in my possession, a finding that I found difficult, since I could not remember any hail coming down while I was in the DC area. I went to the NOAA (National Oceanographic and Aerospace Agency) and looked up the storm reports for the week I had the car. There were no reports of hail within 300 miles of where I was. Since I had only driven the car for 225 miles, I figured this was proof positive that the car did NOT receive any hail damage whilst I had it in my possession. I even emailed the link to the NOAA to the claims people at Enterprise.

They continued to deny my claim that the vehicle was damaged before or after I had possession and insisted that I either have my insurance company (AAA) pay for the damage or that I pay for the damage myself. I am very angry at the way I was treated. Even after I provided absolute PROOF that no hail had occurred while I was in possession (an impossibility), they continued to insist that I was responsible. My take on this is that the young black radical who helped me had it in for me. I am a successful businessman and he had an attitude from the get go. I cannot prove he purposefully gave me a car he knew was damaged, but I feel I was set up.

Now...since I have not listed his name, I am not committing libel, but the real kicker is that even with POSITIVE PROOF from the main storm SCIENTIFIC center for the USA, Enterprise continued to claim the car had been damaged while in my possession. My insurance company is going to pay the claim, minus my deductible, but the absolute crappy way I was treated has firmed up my resolve to NEVER again rent from Enterprise, or their sister companies, Alamo, or National.

I spend about 6K a year on just my DC trips with them, but now...I just booked a six day rental with Hertz, my old car company, who for some reason, I quit using (I think Enterprise is cheaper, now I know why, jerks). So, here you have it. An unscrupulous company claiming damages to a vehicle by a loyal customer, even after proof has been provided. I almost thought about suing them, but finally, just decided to let my insurance pay and leave as many bad reviews for them as possible. Caveat Emptor.

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Scam

By Kathy - 03/22/2009

COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA -- September 10th, 2008, my daughter, a 21-year old nursing student at USC rented a car from Enterprise while her car was being repaired. She drove the rental 79 miles according to the Enterprise records. She and her roommate returned the rental at around 4:00 or 4:15 on September 11, 2008. The car was checked in and an Enterprise employee drove them to the repair shop (around 5 miles according to the Enterprise assistant manager) to pick up her car. The girls were driven to the repair shop in the car that was rented from Enterprise. (the roommate is willing to testify to this.)

The Enterprise employee left the repair shop alone in the enterprise car that had been rented. On September 17th, 2008 we were contacted by a man from the Loss Control Department. He insisted our daughter had damaged the underneath of the car she had rented and we were to contact our insurance company or pay for the damages. We, of course, were shocked at this belated news. He stated an employee started the car on September 11th after my daughter dropped the car off at the Enterprise office and the car overheated because of a damaged radiator.

I called the store assistant manager, and he had a different story. He said leaking fluid was seen under the car. The store assistant manager was not clear when the leaking fluid was found. I did some more investigating. I called the man from the Loss Control Department on September 18th, 2008, he told me the car was picked up by a tow truck the day my daughter returned the car which would have been September 11th, 2008. I tried to explain to him an Enterprise employee drove the car the last 10 or so miles, the last 5 of which he was in the car alone.

If the car had a damaged radiator, from my investigation and according to the information the man from the Loss Control Department gave me, the car could not have been driven to the repair shop and back. He told me to have my daughter send a written dispute. She did. A few days later, dated September 19th, 2008, we received a letter, an invoice from the body shop and the receipt for towing. I could not see how a car with that kind of damage could have been driven to the repair shop and back to Enterprise. So it seemed to us the damage had to have been done after the girls were dropped off at the repair shop.

We ask the man from the Loss Control Department to investigate further. We received a letter dated October 20th, 2008 from the Loss Control Department that stated “If and when we receive all documents in regards to your claim we will fully review them and contact you. Please be advised that this may take up to 60 days.” He never contacted us to send him any information we had collected. On October 23, 2008, the day after we received this letter, we received a call from the Loss Control Department. He had completed his investigation and expected payment.

When the man from the Loss Control Department contacted us on October 23rd, 2008 and we were told he had completed his investigation to its fullest extent and our dispute was reviewed fully and we had been found at fault. I asked again about the Enterprise employee driving the girls in the car my daughter had rented and his answer was “…from speaking to all involved parties I have been advised that that vehicle was not used to deliver her.” He never seemed to understand there were two girls in the car!

We did call our insurance company and turned this over to them when neither the man from the Loss Control Department nor anyone in his office would return our calls. Here are the facts the man from the Loss Control Department missed: When my daughter rented the car her rental agreement shows there were 20138 miles on the car. When she returned the car the receipt showed 79 miles had been driven. This matches the information that the store assistant manager gave me on the phone – 20217 miles on the car when my daughter returned it.

When the car reached the body shop it had 20228 miles – that is 11 miles a car was driven that the man from the Loss Control Department said was not drivable and had to be towed that day. This extra 11 miles driven also matches closely to the number of miles the store assistant manager gave me on the phone, September 17th, 2008, as the distance from Enterprise to the repair shop and back to Enterprise. This is the miles the Enterprise driver drove the girls (in the car my daughter rented) to the repair shop and then drove alone back to Enterprise.

The man from the Loss Control Department told me the car was towed on the day it was returned. That would have been September 11th sometime after 4:45 pm; according to the tow receipt the car was not towed until September 12th, at 12:50 pm. The first letter the man from the Loss Control Department sent states “When this vehicle was checked in, damage was noted to the radiator and engine.” When in fact, my daughters roommate was sitting in the car while the store manager and my daughter checked the car in and no damage was noted.

Neither the trunk nor the engine was checked but, the car was drivable because then an Enterprise employee got in the car with the girls and they drove off the lot to the repair shop. At this point my daughter's roommate had not gotten out of the car. If the man from the Loss Control Department had investigated our dispute “to its fullest extent” as he stated, why didn't he know about the 11 extra miles? Why didn't he know someone had to have driven the car that he stated was not drivable? Also, why didn't he know when the car was towed? Why didn't he know my daughters roommate was with her when she returned the car?

Other concerns I have… My daughter's receipt was falsified. Her receipt shows she returned the car on September 11th, 2008 at 2:02 pm. She was in Clinical at the hospital until 3:30. After Clinical, she and her roommate left the hospital and, went back to their apartment. She and her roommate then drove the rental to Enterprise. They did not get to the Enterprise office until around 4:15 pm. The store assistant manager was trying to help ** out by reducing her excessive rental charges, but legally he cannot change her receipt to show a different time the rental car was returned.

This document has to show the correct date and time of returning a rental car, especially when there is a possibility the customer may get accused of damages to a car. This information could have an influence on the outcome of an investigation.… Why wouldn't the store manager return my calls? He is the one the assistant manager said found the leaking fluids under the car.… Why would the store manager and the assistant manager not tell the Loss Control Administrator, that an Enterprise employee drove the car that was rented?

An employee of Enterprise and the store assistant manager told me the man from the Loss Control Department told them they were not to talk to me. All questions should be referred to the Loss Control Department. But after my last phone conservation with the man from the Loss Control Department on October 23, 2008, he would not return my calls. I left at least 3 messages for his superior, she never called me back. I have also left 3 messages for the store manager to call me – never heard from him. I have cell phone records to confirm this.… We were sent a letter dated October 20th, stating an investigation may take 60 days.

Then we get a phone call on October 23rd saying the man from the Loss Control Department had made his decision. (I want to know what evidence he uses to make his decision).… A few days after my last conversation with the Loss Control Department my daughter started getting collection letters and phone calls from a collection service. We have informed them this has been turned over to our insurance company and our insurance company has told them to stop calling us. We have gotten calls from them every day this week. I have told the man from the Loss Control Department every piece of information I have collected to help resolve this matter.

I want the situation investigated in hopes another Enterprise customer will not have to go through the same thing. If my 21-year old college student daughter had to deal with this on her own, she could not have done it. I know now, our insurance company will investigate for us, but there is no way they could have known all the little pieces that proved our daughter did not do this. And would it have been worth an insurance company's time? I would encourage everyone who has had problems with Enterprise to contact their home office: Enterprise Rental Headquarters, 600 Corporate Park Drive, St. Louis, MO 63105.

I have reported this to the Better Business Bureau, SC Dept. of Insurance, and Consumer Affairs. All these agencies have been very pro-active in contacting me and starting their investigations. I would also suggest taping all phone conservations (check your state laws). If I had not had these tapes I could not have kept up with all the information that was being told to me to prove my daughter was innocent.

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False Claim for Damages I Did Not Cause

- 09/17/2014

Rating: 1/51

ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND -- Run away as fast as you can - and make sure you keep running. I rented a car from these "professionals" and treated it like my own. The car was driven carefully and garaged while in my care. When I returned it I was treated to the old hail damage scam. Very tiny (and I do mean "very") dimples in the top of the car was presented to me as my responsibility; anyone could easily miss this on a walk-around inspection. I pointed out that I could easily prove: a) there were no hailstorms anywhere near the vicinity where the car was driven; and b) the car was under cover when parked.

No matter... within minutes (while I was walking out of the door) they filed a claim with my insurance company. About 2 hours AFTER the claim was filed the manager called me to remind me I had signed a contract in which an Act of God was my liability. What to do, what to do? Well, first I cancelled my company's contract with Enterprise; I have this thing about withholding rewards from scammers. Second, I did a little Googling ("Enterprise hail scam" - you'll very quickly see what I mean) to reveal the pattern and establish a basis for future claims.

Third, I called the National Climatic Data Center and requested a certified timeline of weather events in the region where the car traveled (the NCDC is a group of super people and their reports are both very detailed and viewed as expert evidence during litigation). Fourth, I penned a cordial letter to the President and COO of Enterprise, asking to take a hard look at some of the activities in this office - I made sure to include the names and details of the people I dealt with. The COO promotes a "do the right thing" policy. I called my insurance company to alert them to expect a claim from Enterprise.

Though the Office Manager promised to hold back any claim before 'his boss' had a chance to speak with me, in fact they had immediately filed a claim and my agent already had it in her hand. Does that sound like a company trying to honestly get to the bottom of things and find out the facts before acting? Well, by now you've Googled and already know the answer. Since apparently this pattern is widespread within Enterprise the problem might be a corporate policy of revenue generation, or it could just be a couple of grubby local managers trying to pump up the books - if the latter Enterprise corporate needs to know so the problem can be redressed.

In any large company it can be very hard to control satellite offices - that's a COO's responsibility and they deserve a chance to correct things. I take full responsibility for any damage I cause to a vehicle I rent, and I do everything I can to take care of a rental car in my possession. But I fiercely defend against a wrong and encourage everyone to do the same. If Enterprise fails to quickly withdraw this claim I will be sure the full record is made available.

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Used and Abused by Enterprise

By Kara - 10/21/2013

Rating: 1/51

WEST PALM BEACH, FLORIDA -- I have rented from Enterprise many times before and I must agree with a previous review I read about the employees being much more thorough when checking you out than when checking you in. I recently rented from PBI in FL. The young lady checking me in did not even walk around the entire car with me and every scratch I pointed out she said was cosmetic and normal wear and tear. Now seeing as I am not an Enterprise employee, I do not know EXACTLY what damage is considered... I believe this is why they have someone there to assist you. Well that was a giant FAIL.

When I returned the car after renting it for only 3 or 4 days, the manager checking me in claimed there was damage to the driver side, damage by the gas lid, damage on the front bumper, damage on the passenger door, and the entire roof was dented. I'm sorry but what did you think I did while I was there for 3 days? Drive the car through a hail storm of sorts? He told me they would have to check to see if there were previous damage reports and he would be filing a claim. Great. A week later a gentleman calls to discuss the claim but I'm working and cannot answer. I return the call the same day, but no answer.

Next day the guy calls again while I'm working and I return the call once again with no answer. This happens once or twice more over the next one or 2 weeks and finally the calls stop. I then call the number I had been calling back to tell them that since no one is returning my calls or sending me information via email which I requested in the last voicemail I had left for the gentleman, that I would be assuming the claim was not being followed through. The voicemail I reached this time was that of a woman... and she didn't return my call either. Now it's a month later and I get an envelope in the mail saying I owe over $2600 in damages! I'm in awe.

I did not put a single scratch on that vehicle and with the amount of damage they claimed occurred, it is amazing to me that no one else ever caught it before my experience. The amount of damage and the fact that is it on every side of the car is not even a reasonable amount of damage to occur in a 3-day period. AND on top of that the pictures that they sent me to review are in black and white and you cannot see a single dent. I have spoken with a lawyer who has told me to dispute the charges until he has further reviewed my issue and to request color copies of the damage because black and white is not acceptable.

This is not an issue of money, because I have it if I needed to pay. However, I legitimately did not put a single scratch on this vehicle and I refuse to pay for damages that someone else caused and that it was overlooked by other employees in the past. I will not be the scapegoat. I WILL NEVER RENT FROM ENTERPRISE AND NOR WILL MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY THAT TRAVEL OFTEN AND HAVE RENTED FROM THEM IN THE PAST!

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Bad Experience, Loss of Personal Item

By Catherine - 07/10/2013

Rating: 1/51

LAKE CHARLES, LOUISIANA -- Scheduled a vehicle for vacation 2 weeks prior to our vacation, and held it on my Amex Card. Rate was agreed upon with a confirmation number. I showed up, and the rate had jumped up to almost double, so I objected, and informed the person that I had a confirmation # with my rates included, which I had left at home. He stated that he was sorry, but the rate was over 150 a day, and as I continued to explain that was not what I had agreed to, and held the reservation on my Amex card, he actually raised his voice at me and told me to be shut up and let him figure out why my rate was different.

He even threatened to cancel my rental, as if he were in charge. I was not loud, or out of line, but firm I had not agreed to that rate. I actually think this guy has some anger issues, and felt intimidated and I didn't respond, as he was aggressive. He finally ceded that they had included the insurance which I declined, and after 15 mins, said I would get the rate I was confirmed for. He told me I had to inspect the car, (and my first thing I noticed, it had a LIMU sticker on it????) and when he raised opened the back door of the vehicle, he showed where the tire tools were (???) and told me to look where the spare was.

When I was looking, he slammed the door down on my head, and I was stunned, and shocked, and obviously hurting. He then stated I was really having a bad day, and reminded me how my rates were messed up. I think this guy is a half ** individual, but I only wanted to leave, and get out of there. On Monday, my husband planned to go with me to return the vehicle, but he was not there. My issue NOW is we left our GPS in the Vehicle. Didn't realize it for a week, and of course, no one, after contacting the manager **, has turned it in. I got a sense of "you're never going to see it again" and "we aren't responsible for items left in the car".

Well how about being responsible for slamming my head on the back door, and having a psycho yell at me? I know, and they know, that GPS was found in cleaning, as it doesn't belong with the vehicle. No one but staff has that GPS. Period. I swore by Enterprise rental prior to this, but I am disgusted with my last experience.

The guy that dropped me off the day I turned it in was great! He needs to run and find a better place to grow his career. His pleasant demeanor doesn't fit in... I wanted to tell this manager about all of my experience, but there was no interest in hearing any of it. I am sure it happens a lot, and thanks to their policy, no one cares, or will you ever get your personals returned. I think I am going to file a police report, so at least it makes me feel better.

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Charged for Damages I Did Not Cause

By quality525 - 03/28/2013

Rating: 1/51

ESSEX, MARYLAND -- I had a small mishap with my car. I was told I had to use Enterprise by the insurance company. When the time came to get the rental, I was told by Enterprise that they did not have a car for me. 5 minutes After cancelling an appointment at the local repair shop, they came up with a car for me. It was snowing really hard and the car was covered with snow to where you could not even tell what color the car was. I had the car for 1 week and only put 31 miles on it. Upon returning the car to Enterprise, the person in Enterprise said they had to do a walk around inspection.

Before they got to the car, the girl who did the inspection ran up to the car's front end and said I damaged their car. She wasn't even close enough to see it yet. It was like she already knew about the scratch on the bumper. One of her friends was driving it and she called her friend to bring it back because I needed it. After about 5 weeks later, I got a bill for 800 dollars for the repairs. No investigation was done and the car got fixed before it was reported to my insurance co. Now I have a deductible to pay for someone else's car and still to this minute can't figure out how a company this size can continue to do whatever they want to whomever they want.

I guess this is the way they cover their ** so they don't get in trouble. If someone was to hit my car, my insurance company won't let anyone touch it until they assess the damages. The scratch on the bumper could not be seen when I picked the car up because it was covered with snow. They wouldn't even clean it off for me. I was told there was not a thing I could do because they say the damage happened while I had the car because it wasn't discovered before then. Every single business has certain protocols that they must follow to protect the rights of the customers. Why is Enterprise an exception to the rules?

I know I'm not alone because I have read many reviews like mine. How many people are going to get screwed over before something can be done about this? This happens so often, there is actually a category in the complaint section called "charged with damages you did not cause". Now, my advice to everybody who ever has to deal with Enterprise - Make the representative clean the car so you can inspect it yourself completely. All the way around, underneath, and especially inside. Maybe together we can change the way Enterprise rentals treats the paying customers. The paying customers are the reason Enterprise is still in business. Or is it...